Wimbledon 2014 draw: Andy Murray begins defence against David Goffin

Andy Murray became the first British winner at Wimbledon in 77 years last year. Photograph: Rex/Rex Features

Andy Murray starts his Wimbledon defence at 1pm on Centre Court on Monday against a player who looks as if he should still be in school, Belgium’s David Goffin, and, if all goes to plan, will conclude it in a fortnight against a gnarled old adversary, Rafael Nadal.

That, at least, was the shape of things after the draw on Friday morning. Murray’s path to the final is as good as he could have hoped for and, according to seedings, it reads: Goffin (104 in the world and best remembered for taking a set off Roger Federer at the French Open in 2012), Pablo Andújar (79), Roberto Bautista Agut (28), Fabio Fognini (15), David Ferrer (7) or Grigor Dimitrov (11), Novak Djokovic (2) and still the world No1, Nadal.

All of which assumes that the old order will not be disturbed – which was not the case last year, when Nadal and Federer were out the door before the ticket touts had even warmed up. And, after an unprecedentedly long domination by the handful of players who have come to be known as the Big Four – Nadal, Federer, Djokovic and Murray – upstarts are becoming increasingly belligerent. Stanislas Wawrinka, who beat Djokovic and Nadal to win the Australian Open, set the tone of insurrection and players such as the charismatic Bulgarian Dimitrov, who won Queen’s last weekend – his third title of the year, all on different surfaces – will be encouraged to believe that this could be a historic Wimbledon for them.

Dimitrov, seeded 11, comfortable on grass and fairly bursting with confidence, is a genuine threat – and he could meet Murray in the quarter-finals, if he beats Ferrer in the fourth round.

Of the established favourites, Nadal and Federer – who have jousted here so memorably in the past but are possibly still wounded after losing so shockingly to Steve Darcis and Sergiy Stakhovsky, respectively, last year – are in the same half of the draw, symbolic of the passing of an era. Once they were at polar ends of the draw. Djokovic leapfrogs Nadal for the top seeding and has 55th-ranked Andrey Golubev first up. Federer, who has won Wimbledon seven times but will struggle to add to his portfolio, starts against the seasoned Italian Paolo Lorenzi (81).

Of the British hopes, James Ward has a tough opener against the 17th seed Mikhail Youzhny, Dan Evans has also drawn a Russian, in Andrey Kuznetsov (114), and Kyle Edmund will not be devastated with his task meeting the world No96 Andreas Haider-Maurer.

Reacting to being drawn against Murray, Goffin said: “It is a tough draw but a great match to look forward to. It should be a nice moment, a real experience for me. Andy is the defending champion, a great champion. I can only hope that I am able to play well and enjoy what happens. To play on this court, on this beautiful grass, on the first day, it is a dream really.”

Serena Williams, as ever, is favourite to win the women’s title – despite her early exit at the French Open – and starts her campaign with what should be a gentle warm-up against Anna Tatishvili. Intriguingly, she is on course for an early showdown with the French Open champion Maria Sharapova, who has not beaten her since the 2004 Wimbledon final.

The Russian opens against the British wild card Samantha Murray and could meet Williams in the quarter-finals, which would somewhat take the wind out of the concluding stages of the tournament.

Eugenie Bouchard, who played so well against Sharapova in the semi-finals of the French Open, has a testing first match against Daniela Hantuchova.

Simona Halep, the form player of the Tour, who so impressed in a close Roland Garros final, could meet Jelena Jankovic in the last eight, Victoria Azarenka, still looking for her best tennis, is heading towards a showdown with Agnieszka Radwanska, and former champion Petra Kvitova could play Li Na for a semi-final place.

Marion Bartoli decided to quit the game shortly after winning the title last year and her place in the showpiece Centre Court women’s match on Tuesday is taken by the 2013 finalist, Sabine Lisicki, who plays Julia Glushko.